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Sunday, 27 September 2015

Well it's been a while since I last posted anything on my blog. What a year it's been!! We sold our house and had to move into a rented house for 3 months. My daughter got married in June. We then moved into our new house in July. Then my father-in-law became ill and sadly passed away recently. So lots of happy moments, hard graft and then sadness when Graham's Dad died.With all the upheaval going on my craft stuff was packed away for several months and I have only just settled into my new craft room. It is considerably smaller to my last craft space. Downsizing has been interesting ...... and difficult. We crafters don't like to part with anything that may or may not be useful. I am now enjoying crafting again. Last weekend my friend Linda and I went down to Skipton to the Beamsley craft retreat. We have been going for 4 years now and love it. I actually managed to make 39 Christmas cards. A great start to my Christmas preparations. Here are a few of them.

I bought a new Penny Black stamp with the berries. I really enjoyed playing with this.

This was another new Penny Black stamp with lots of potential. I wanted to try it in lots of colours. These are my favourites.

I loved the autumn colours of this one. This stamp will be useful for a variety of occasions

These next two are variations of designs I have done before. But they are stamps I love and they come out every year.

The next two are very similar in style. Simple but effective:

And of course my favourite Penny Black prancing deer. I just love that stamp.

We had a great weekend in Yorkshire. Laughing, eating and crafting ... the perfect tonic after a very busy year.Siobhan xx

Wednesday, 8 April 2015

Some time ago, our team leader Dorothy asked us all to pick a theme for the week. And this was my choice for the Woodware blog.... bookmarks. For me they are a bit like tags, if I don't feel like making a card these are ideal for trying out things. Whether it's a new stamp or colour combo they are a nice format to work with. And they make a quick gift idea to enclose with a card. I read my kindle mostly but I still enjoy a book now and then. One of my pet hates is seeing people turn down a corner to mark their place!! Give them a few bookmarks.

Here is my selection.The first one is a scrapling. When you trim an A4 sheet of card to make a square card blank (6x6in) you are left with a thin strip of card. Whilst these are handy for shopping lists it is far more creative to turn them into a little card, or scrapling.

And perfect for a bookmark as it is or you can trim the back off. Creating a blended background and then stamping some bold images on top is a great way of creating these nature inspired bookmarks. The flower stamps are all from Woodware designed by Jane Gill.

I love this stamp, it's just so versatile.

Not everyone likes making their own backgrounds. This one was stamped on to patterned papers with some ribbon and lace added.

And finally, something more masculine. This was made using stamps from an Andy Skinner set. Well this is my last project for Woodware for a while. We have recently sold our house and will be moving to our new house in mid July. So we are having to move into rented accomodation for several weeks. My craft stuff has to be all packed away and I probably won't see it again until end August!!Thank you to everyone at Woodware, it has been a good DT to be on. And thanks too to my friends and other crafty bloggers for taking the time to look at my blog from time to time. I wish Gill all the best in taking over my place in the team and I look forward to seeing what she creates.Now I need to finish off the bits and bobs for my daughter's wedding, start packing, get the rental house ready for family coming over, go to work, have a nervous break down ....I know things will be a bit crazy for a while but it will be worth it!!Siobhan x

Thursday, 2 April 2015

Its a colour challenge this week at Woodware. This time the chosen colours are black and silver. My effort is a bit of a quick one this week but I am quite pleased at how it turned out.

The quote was the starting point for this card. It is from a clear Woodware set designed by Jane Gill. I embossed it in silver onto a square of black card. Then I stamped a scrap of silver card with a patterned stamp and embossed that in detail silver powder. Then I punched out the dress.I die-cut a fancy square frame from silver card but decided it needed some blinging up!!. So I inked all the edges with silver ink and embossed with Stampendous Marcasite powder. This gives a really vintage silvery finish.

I thought this card would be nice for a 21st or 18th. I actually use the Woodware dress punch quite a lot for girly cards as it is just a lovely shape.That's it for this week folks!! Have a good one.Siobhan x

Friday, 27 March 2015

This week we’re going to celebrate with the awesome Stampendous Design Team and the Dreamweaver Stencils Dream Team all of the two companies have come together and we are excited to be able to kick start this marriage with the great Stampendous and Dreamweaver Stencils products that we at Woodware make available to the UK market.

We’ll be offering three prizes in the UK and three in the US. Each prize package will consist of Nathalie Kalbach’s terrific Grunge Mixed Media Cling Rubber Stamp Sets and the beautiful Zen Butterfly Dreamweaver Stencil! Both products are ideal for adding texture and backgrounds to your projects!

So remember to visit and leave a comment.

Both products are ideal for adding texture and backgrounds to your projects!

And that’s our theme!! Making Texture. We hope you’ll enjoy the wonderful inspiration that three talented teams will bring you this week! Be sure to visit all the blog links listed and leave your comments! Each comment will count as an entry towards one of the terrific prize packages.

Well this has been a busy week for this collaboration from three great companies. I love Stampendous and Dreamweaver and have done for a long time. Although I must admit I do not use my stencils as much as I should do.

Here is my contribution, a tag using a combination of two sets of new Stampendous stamps, one from Nathalie Kalbach and the other an Andy Skinner set. I have gone with a Steampunk style. And I have kind of done a step by step as I sometimes get asked how to build up backgrounds to get depth and texture.

These were the stamps I used and here is the Dreamweaver stencil LJ915

I started off with white tag. I stencil embossed each end of the tag using the metal stencil.Then I stared blending dye inks over the top of it.

There was a plastic stencil/mask with the Nathalie Kalbach stamps which I used next to add to my tag.

Next I added some stamping in soft colours.

Then some distressing with splatters of water. I also used a pearlescent gold mica spray to add some lovely shimmer.

Now to start adding some stamping in black to make the images pop.

I also added some fine splatters of black ink with a fine paint brush.

I used some gold embossing on some stamped images and Frantage powders around the edges of the tag to add more texture.

And then I added the clock which I die cut as a circle and raided my "hardware" box for all the finishing touches.

And here is my finished tag.

Talking off busy weeks. We have decided to move house to give us a bit more room for when family and friends come to stay. The house went on the market on Sunday and by Wednesday we had sold it. I am still in a state of shock!! The realisation that it will probably take me a month to pack up my craft room, is starting to worry me!!. Never mind, it will be all worth it in the end.

I hope you have enjoyed the hop this week. There have been some amazing projects and it's not finished yet. Be sure to follow the links below :

Saturday, 21 March 2015

Well I am last this week to post for our Woodware DT. It has been lovely to see all the variations on the theme of accordion cards. Mine is probably the simplest as it is cut from a single sheet of A4 card.

I once used this idea in a workshop so I already had the template drawn out for the folded card and the matting layers. The backgrounds for each panel were made by blending blues and rusty oranges. This is not my usual colour scheme but I wanted to be quite bold with this one!! I then over stamped softly with a script, flourish and leaf stamp. Then some darker foliage. To give the whole background a lovely shimmer I mixed some interference gold pearl-ex powder with water in a spritzer bottle. I sprayed the panels and dried with my heat gun. This resulted in a lovely shimmer!! Sadly this is not properly visible on the photos.

Then I added some birds and text to complete the card. The ribbon was cream which I dipped into the inks I used for the background. A swipe of each on the craft mat then spritzed with water and gold spray is perfect for dipping ribbon to get a great match for your project.

The charm and metal flowers were the final finishing touch.

This card will fold up to fit a DL envelope.Be sure to check out all the great accordion cards made by the rest of the team across on the Woodware blog.Well thats' it for this week. My hubby and I are enjoying a quiet week end. The last two or three weeks have seen us painting, plastering, gardening and cleaning for all our worth. And tomorrow our house goes on the market!! We are hoping to get a house with a bit more room to make it nicer for family and friends to stay!! And a little craft room for moi!!See you next week.Siobhan x

Monday, 9 March 2015

Our challenge from Woodware this week is "Blooming Marvellous - big blooms". If I had looked at the list sooner I could have used the lovely jumbo poppy that I used in last week's challenge. But sadly I am never that organised. So I used a couple of Woodware clear stamps "Cow Parsley Flower Heads" and "Wheat", both designed by Jane Gill.

I did a blended background first and then stamped the images in black to make them pop. The sentiment was gold embossed onto a strip of torn vellum and wrapped around the main panel. Then a bit of dry embossed gold and a text stamp on the pale green card.

A card that could be used for lots of occasions.

I even managed a trip to a get to a craft shop on Saturday. Our tag group decided to have a day away to Craft World in Glasgow. It was a very enjoyable trip and we all managed to buy lots of lovely new items. So thanks Rosie, Pat, Isobel, Maggie and Sue!! I am itching to get into my craft room but at the moment it is full of bedroom furniture as we are painting our bedroom. So I will just have to be patient!!A few people have expressed an interest in what Catriona and I have come up with for her wedding invitations. Now that they are all finished I can show you. Her theme is Art Deco. The stamps came from Waltzing Mouse and the embossing folder from Creative Expressions was perfect for her theme!!

Tuesday, 3 March 2015

This week at Woodware Jane was asked to chose this week's theme. And she came up with "pointillist technique". I have to admit my first reaction was a rather big groan!! Colouring in is something I am not great at so I wasn't looking forward to this week's challenge. But that's why it is called a challenge. And I am always game to try something once.For my project I chose the beautiful poppy flower by Stampendous (CRS5048). This is a jumbo cling stamp and I thought it would lend itself to this technique.

Dorothy has a very nice explanation of where the technique comes from on the Woodware blog. I used Copic markers for mine. I also used the technique around the poppy to try and add some shadow.

Hopefully in the close ups you can see the individual dots. I actually used 5 shades of blue for the petals!!

It will be interesting to see what the other girls do with it. I have tried it but don't think I will be in a rush to do it again!! Although I do love the stamp.Have a good week.Siobhan x

Wednesday, 25 February 2015

This week's challenge at Woodware is to come up with an idea for a rustic card. I have used a clear Woodware stamp called "Wheat" designed by Jane Gill. I stamped it onto white card and embossed the image with a clear embossing powder.I then blended dye inks over the top and stamped the whole panel with a text stamp to add some texture to the background.

I added some further distressing with some splattered water. Then it was just a simple case of layering up and adding some rustic embellishment.

I used a delicate sprig to stamp onto light brown card for the background. Then some string, burlap ribbon and a big button to hold it all together for the finishing touch. In my "nature" box I found the little alder cones and included them when wrapping everything together.I am a bit late with this, got my days mixed up!! Between making wedding invitations and house hunting I am a little more stressed than usual!!Have a good week!Siobhan x

Thursday, 19 February 2015

The theme this week at Woodware is Mothers Day, but we don’t all have our Mum’s to make cards for, but I bet that everybody has a special lady in their lives that is like a Mum to them, it may even be just a friend who is always there for you. My mum is no longer with us but I know she always appreciated receiving a handmade card from me and my sister. For my card I have chosen a lovely stamp from Stampendous. Butterflies are always popular and I love blue butterflies.

I simply stamped it in black and used watercolour pencils to add colour and a wet paint brush to blend the colours a bit. I then splattered the die cut panel with fine splatters of blue and gold mica powder mixed with a little water.

The sentiment came from a clear Stampendous set and I thought it was appropriate.To finish off I used some music paper from Woodware and edged it with a punched border of blue. The butterflies are from vellum that has been coated with embossing ink and sparkly powder. Once melted you can punch out flowers or butterflies etc.And here is the finished card:

Friday, 13 February 2015

So why not have a go at creating a Journal or Album cover pop over and join in the challenge.

I love note books!! So it's nice to cover them and make them a little bit more personal. We are starting to look at houses recently with the intention of moving to our forever home. So this note book will be used for keeping track of all those little details over the coming months.

The rooster represents the home (coming home to roost) and the sentiment might just help remind me to keep my feet on the ground!

I already have a long list in my book of all the little jobs around our house to be done.

All the stamps I have used are Stampendous.

And the background papers came from a pad of vintage papers also stocked by Woodware.

I hope you have enjoyed all the journal ideas this week. Dorothy still has to post hers tomorrow.

Well it's been a busy week again and I am more than ready for the weekend break. Hope you enjoy yours!!

Siobhan's Blog

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About Me

I used to own a rubber stamping shop in Perth called Stampaholics.I have now gone back to work as a Nuclear Medicine Technologist in the NHS. I am married to Graham and have two grown-up children, Paul and Catriona and two dogs. I love all sorts of crafting especially rubber stamping. I also enjoy reading and walking, especially in the Scottish mountains.